S.R: Okay so it's time to wrap up the Edolas Arc. Thank whatever deity is listening to me rant for that. I mean seriously. I used to like this arc because it gave Wendy a chance to shine. But then after re-reading the manga I realized it wasn't as great as I thought it was, and Wendy's part in the arc wasn't as big as I had remembered. Then I started nitpicking my memories about it and realized it actually sucked. And now every time I get to it in a fanfic (either my own take or in reading someone elses), I find it could have been done so much better that I just feel bitter about the canon version and I hate it. But that's enough of my rambling. You're here for the story, not me.
A few hours had passed since Mystogan, or rather Prince Jellal, challenged his father for the crown. Upon finding out that it was Natsu that had rampaged against his armies pretty much singlehandedly, King Faust had paled at the idea of his son allowing the man to rampage then and their if he didn't agree to leave the lacrima alone. But then he recalled the top secret weapon that they'd been working on for years had been finished and was unbeatable.
'I'll agree to his terms for now, and use Dorma Anim to crush that foolish boy's champion. Then because they won't be able to stand against me I'll wipe his group of 'friends' out and destroy the lacrima myself in celebration.' Was what he had thought to himself before hurriedly agreeing to the terms of their duel with a faked panic.
Which was why he had a calm smile on his face as his son, Jellal, approached him in the center of the ruined Colosseum that they had at the edge of the city. They both just glared at each other in silence for a moment. Natsu was standing just behind the prince, with a blank look on his face, trying to keep himself from smirking evilly at the fact there wasn't anything he couldn't win against in Edolas.
"As King, I have accepted your challenge for the throne. My chosen champion is myself."
He stated, though the man had a bit of confusion evident on his face when his son didn't react.
"My chosen champion is my friend Natsu Dragneel of Earthland and heir of Igneel the Fire Dragon King."
Mystogan spoke with a smile as he gestured towards Natsu. After they'd left the throne room Mystogan had explained his plan to the group, with all of them agreeing that Natsu was the best choice. When the words 'Dragon King' came out of his mouth he was glad to see his father was shaking slightly. But his part was now over, so he walked back to the viewing platform where the rest of Fairy Tail stood to watch the battle. Natsu remained standing at the center of the coliseum standing face to face with King Faust though.
"Well then, boy. No, Natsu. What is your weapon of choice?"
Faust questioned, as he struggled to remain calm while thinking to himself 'If he's the son of a dragon then that makes this brat a Dragon Slayer. We've never been able to test Dorma Anim against a Slayer. Theoretically it's unbeatable, but since the entire design was based off of a dragon, there's a chance he could still win.'
"My weapon is my magic."
Natsu responded as he lit his hands on fire. Gulping the king announced his chosen weapon was called Dorma Anim. The moment he finish speaking the ground began to rumble as a large mechanical device could be seen making its way towards them. They couldn't really make out any details beyond the fact that it was silver, and seemed to resemble an egg.
But once it was delivered to the coliseum, the egg unfolded itself and began to change shape to a bipedal body while claw like protrusions where the hands and feet would be. It had glowing red eyes, and a long tail, where the metal was patterned to look like scales.
Faust climbed inside of the mechanical creature and began to power it up. Everyone watched on as instead of having a power source built in, it drew in magic from the world around them. When the stream of magic flowing to the machine called Dorma Anim cut off it let out a robotic sounding roar.
"This hunk of junk is your secret weapon? Pah, I'll easily crush it."
Natsu commented before dashing forward. King Faust's voice echoed out in response.
"This is the ultimate weapon, a mechanical dragon with power equal to the gods! Allow me to show you just a taste of what it is capable of. Dragon Rider's Roar!"
With that a large magic circle appeared in the air right in front of what was everyone assumed was Dorma Anim's face. The second it finished forming a massive ray of magic shot forward similar to a roar from one of the Slayers. Even though he didn't fully believe himself with that line since they hadn't been able to test it against opponents like this, Faust had to keep up his bravado, so he cackled evilly while Dorma Anim attacked.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Natsu countered, the power behind it making the king, and his advisors who were watching the battle go wide eyed. Especially when the two attacks met, but within mere seconds Natsu's roar began pushing Dorma Anim'sroar back. Even after Natsu cut his attack off and started moving forward again, it pushed back even as it started fading away since it was no longer being powered.
When he got Close enough Natsu thrust his right arm forward.
"Fire Dragon's Pulverizing Iron Fist!"
The force behind his attack was enough to not just dent the armor of Dorma Anim which would normally repel magic, but punch through it, something that completely shocked the natives of Edolas that witnessed the feat.
"The raw power of his attack was able to punch through the special alloy?!"
Bryo, the man who had been in charge of the project when Dorma Anim was being created, shouted in fear. But Natsu wasn't done attacking just yet. Rotating his body, the pink haired man swung his foot into the side of Dorma Anim's leg with a cry of 'Fire Dragon's Claw.'
He would have used the stronger version of the spell which was meant for piercing damage, but the leg was already weakened by the hole made by his previous attack, so he was confident the weaker level would still be enough to finish breaking the leg. Which it was. The remaining pieces of metal that hadn't been touched by his punching attack, were crushed by his leg, the weakened strength of the rest of the metal in the area wasn't enough to support them. Thus his attack caused the leg to break apart, causing Dorma Animto fall to one side, off balanced.
Panicking Faust used the Dorma Anim to cast it's Dragon Rider Missiles spell. The large quantity of missiles would have been enough to make anyone else freak out. But Natsu just grinned. Instead he began climbing the mechanical body that was Dorma Anim. His pace was just fast enough for him to get out of the way when a missile would slam into the spot he was located at previously. Inside the machine Faust was screaming in frustration, especially as the brat was using his attack against him. Though he was lucky that the missiles weren't as bad as the Fire Dragon Slaying magic that had destroyed the one leg with two spells. Another factor for his frustration however was that, because the boy had already destroyed one of it's legs, he couldn't make Dorma Anim transform into it's Black Sky form, which was slightly sturdier and far faster.
Natsu however was just having a field day. Even though he didn't need it, the moment a missile would go off after coming into contact with the metallic body of Dorma Anim he would swallow the explosion, the heat and flames giving him a little pick me up. He could have easily dealt with the machine without any power boosts or pick me ups, but since he was still angry about the lacrima situation, Natsu wanted to prove that it didn't matter in the slightest what the king could do, he would still win in the end.
When the last one went off, Natsu smirked. He had almost climbed up to the things face. Coming to stand on it's shoulder, Natsu jumped up into the air screaming.
"I'm all fired up now!"
Reaching the peak of his jump Natsu called his magic to his hands.
"With the flames on my left hand, and the flames on my right hand… Bring them together, Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
This time, the ball of flames created by this attack completely dwarfed all the previous times he'd used it. Gray and Erza both watched with their jaws on the ground as the attack slammed into Dorma Anim with enough force to cause it to fall to the ground. Cana and Makarov were smiling, proud that Natsu had the power to protect and defend those he cared about. Gajeel was twitching as he watched, confused as to why it seemed like Natsu had grown even stronger without really doing anything. Wendy was also confused, but since she didn't know him well enough she just figured she hadn't ever gotten to see him go all out.
When the bright explosion caused by his attack ended, they were treated to a sight that would have made most people instantly faint. Dorma Anim had been scorched and melted so badly, that less than half of the metal remained in a solid form. King Faust was lightly singed, having got of lucky since the cockpit where he had been controlling the machine from was the most protected part of it's body.
"I yield!"
The man screamed in terror.
Hours Later
"Finally all that's over with. Now I have the authority to have them activate the Anima, and send you guys back to Earthland."
Mystogan spoke to the group with a tired tone. He had hopped to have done so sooner, but the moment his father surrendered, he was surrounded by the nobility and royal retainers and swept away to deal with politics.
"It wasn't that long of a wait. Besides you're a part of Fairy Tail and we always keep our promises."
Natsu commented with a smile.
"That's right. Thanks for helping me out guys, especially you Natsu."
Even though Natsu is the only one that really did anything he felt the need to thank them all, but just like Natsu they all denied it, saying that's what family is for.
"Yes. I'll always remember my time with you all fondly. But I'm king now, and so I can't go back with you all."
"That's quite alright my boy."
Makarov replied, they all knew it was coming so none of them were surprised.
"I hope you all don't mind if I use Natsu as my excuse to the people about why we're about to lose magic in this world."
They all laughed at that, but when he didn't join them they were quiet. Especially when after a moment they were all surrounded by a pale yellow light that sparkled.
"It was fun you guys. But my journey with Fairy Tail is done."
"Yeah, it was pretty fun. Next time, don't get my daughter involved though" Natsu replied, before continuing on as his words drew a smile from Makarov, Erza, Gray, and Mystogan. "There are always three conditions for when someone leaves Fairy Tail. Firstly, you must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others as long as you live. Secondly, wait what was the second one again?"
"Second, you, or in this case since I'm the one speaking, I, must never use former contacts met through the guild for my own personal gain."
Mystogan replied. Makarov was silent, proud of the camaraderie between them, even though as guild master he should have been the one to give Mystogan the farewell speech. Gray smiled, glad to see things with Natsu were getting back to normal. Erza also smiled, but hers was more subdued, since even though they didn't really know him Mystogan was still a friend to them and the rest of the guild.
"Thirdly, though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might, you must never consider your own life to be something insignificant, and you must never forget about your friends for as long as you live."
Natsu finished, drawing a smile and a nod from Mystogan.
"Well done my boy."
Makarov told Natsu, pleased that he remembered the speech well enough to get two out of the three conditions right, and word for word no less.
"I don't know how, but I hope we'll see each other again someday Mystogan."
Natsu smiled as he gave the new king of Edolas a wave.
"Yeah… Maybe by then you'll be able to properly give me the Fairies Farewell" Mystogan commented with a small smile as he waved back.
A moment later they all saw nothing but a white light. When they could see again, Natsu, Cana, Makarov, Erza, Gray, Wendy, and the two Exceeds were standing outside of Magnolia, and the city was back to normal. But they had a couple extra bodies around them. A black exceed was with them for some reason, and so was a person that looked strangely familiar. If Natsu had been looking at her he would have recognized them, but his attention was on Michiko who was in Cana's arms. His little girl was squirming uncomfortably for some reason.
This other person was shocked to suddenly be home after having gotten used to the other world, but tears of joy were falling down her face, which confused everyone that actually noticed her. Even though Natsu wasn't paying attention to her at all, the white haired girl was already preparing to launch herself at him for a hug. But she stopped the moment she saw him take a little girl out of Cana's arms. Confusion ran through her at the sight, since he acted just like a father would, and in her mind Natsu wasn't smart enough to become a father without her help.
Thanks to the shock of coming back to Earthland, and how things had changed, she collapsed. Which the sound of the others reacting to finally drew Natsu's attention to her.
"No way!"
Natsu shouted completely confused as to how Lisanna could be there with them despite dying years ago.
"What's wrong Natsu?"
"L-lisanna?!"
That made everyone go wide eyed as they finally realized why the girl seemed so familiar.
"We can figure out what's going on when she wakes up. For now, Gajeel take her to the infirmary at the guild, Wendy go with him and see what you can do. Gray go find Mira and Elfman. Erza if you would grab Porlyusica for us, just in case."
Makarov stated, taking control of the situation. After a moment he turned towards Natsu and Cana.
"I know you two likely want to know what's going on, but given what you've been through, you especially Natsu, I think you should head home and rest. If anything happens I'll send Gray to get you alright?"
Even though he wanted to say he was fine, Natsu couldn't find it in himself to argue with the guild master, especially when Cana was already pulling on his arm to take him back to their home. So he gave in and followed her back to his house in the woods. The further they got from Lisanna the happier Michiko seemed to get. Though he also thought she could have just been fussy due to being tired since the little one was yawning a lot as well.
Cana was being uncharacteristically quiet as well as they walked. But she seemed focused on something, so Natsu wasn't worried about her. Which is why when they got home he set about getting Michiko ready for bed and put to sleep for the night. When he was done he had made his way to the kitchen to get a drink but he was met by Cana who gestured towards the table while saying "we need to talk."
Sitting at the table with her, Natsu was quiet as he waited for her to begin. As far as he could tell the only thing they had to talk about was the return of Lisanna, if that actually was Lisanna that had appeared.
"I've got several things to talk about, but I'll start with this one…. Gajeel said something about you marking me. I pressed him about it and he says you probably didn't know you'd even done that."
"What kind of mark?"
Natsu asked, confused as to why that would be important. Though that was because he was only thinking about the less important markings that a dragon or dragon slayer could give people.
"He called it a scent marking. Gajeel even told me what it's supposed to be for. But again he doesn't think you even knew you did it."
Her words made Natsu go wide eyed. He had forgotten about that kind of marking but he knew what it was for, and it answered his question of why his feelings towards Cana were becoming stronger and stronger at a very rapid pace. But then he wondered about how long the mark had been there, and why it would have only started affecting him after they adopted Michiko.
"I have no clue when I would have given you a marking like that, but if that metal freak is right then it explains why my feelings went from I wouldn't mind dating you to wanting to date you in the time since we agreed to raise Michiko together."
Natsu told her, but then his eyes went wide again as he recalled the only possible moment he could have given her a scent marking.
Flashback
Natsu had just stormed out of the guild, frustrated and upset at the fact that none of them even pretended to believe him about Igneel being a dragon. Normally he would have run to the nearby river bank, but considering he had recently found out that Gray liked to go there he decided to avoid it and instead ran to the woods. Eventually he found a rather nice sized clearing that had a few large rocks in the center. Hopping up to sit on top of one he found Cana crying into her knees silently. He was a bit put off by the fact he couldn't tell she was there until he saw her, but he shoved the feeling aside and decided to find out was was wrong.
"Cana?"
She was clearly startled by the sound of his voice, jumping up quickly.
"Hey it's okay. You don't need to hide."
Natsu softly told her when she stood to leave. Sitting down he patted the stone next to him as a signal for her to stay. The little girl was thinking about leaving anyway but when she noticed he didn't seem to be in his normal happy go lucky mood, she realized he wasn't exactly in a good mood either. So she sat down as well.
"Hey, you don't have to say or do anything, but do you mind if I just talk to you for a bit?"
He asked, wondering if just talking to her about how he felt would help him feel better even if she didn't actually listen. She eventually nodded her head, and he began to speak, telling her about his frustrations and just how much it hurt him to hear the guild when they didn't believe him.
When he was done speaking Natsu did actually feel a lot better. But he was surprised when Cana tugged on his hand.
"Can I have a turn getting things off my chest?"
"Sure."
He responded with a kind smile.
And thus, Natsu learned of her connection to Gildarts, and how she never felt worthy of calling him her father. He heard about how she felt so weak and insecure, especially when her father was around. But as she spoke, and he tried to comfort her, he learned of a goal that she had decided to set for herself that she just had to met before she would let herself tell Gildarts about their connection.
Flashback End
Considering she had seen his eyes widen again before he went silent for a few minutes, Cana knew he had thought of something. So she asked her pink haired companion what he just realized.
"Remember that day when we were kids? Back when I complained to you about the guild and how they didn't believe me. Then you told me about how Gildarts is your dad? I think that's when I gave you the scent marker."
Cana's eyes widened as well as she recalled that fateful day. Mostly because it was thanks to her talk with Natsu that she had set her goal of becoming an S-class wizard before she told Gildarts he was he dad. If that was when Natsu had placed the marker then Gajeel was right in saying it was an old marking. But if it did what he said, and what Natsu admitted to, then why had it taken so long for him to get to this point with his feelings. Voicing the question Natsu replied he wasn't sure either, but he was positive that was when he gave her the scent marking. After all it required a somewhat intimate event for it to be placed, and a talk like they had that day was just the thing.
"Anyway, that leads me into the next thing I wanted to talk to you about. I hadn't really thought about it since you brought up the idea of getting together when we first adopted Michiko. But after Gajeel told me about the marker, and watching you fight for everyone, but mostly me and Michiko as Gajeel told me, I realized just from all the time we've been spending together that you are someone I wouldn't mind dating either. In fact I'd actually like that quite a bit."
"So If I asked you to be my girlfriend you would say yes?"
"Can I say yes now and we skip the question all together since we seem to be in agreement?"
Cana shot back at him for his question. Natsu smiled, at her words. When she saw his smile, it became mirrored on her own face.
"I still should ask anyway just so no one can say we didn't do things the right way…. Will you be my girlfriend Cana?"
"I'd love to Natsu."
With that, Cana reached across the table and placed her hands on either side of Natsu's face. Cupping his face she pulled him closer as she moved her head towards his. In the middle of the table they met, their lips crashing against each others softly. Natsu was enjoying it so much that all he could think of was wanting to kiss her again. Cana enjoyed it as well, her mind going blank, as she forgot the other thing she wanted to talk to her pink haired partner in crime about.
When they pulled away Cana was speechless. Natsu just smirked at her.
"Can I take the lead this time?"
She nodded, unsure of why the idea of Natsu being in charge sent shivers down her spine. But once again they kissed, this time with a bit more zeal, and Cana was seeing stars. Natsu was too, but given the fact he was acting on instinct it didn't matter as much to him.
Meanwhile
Porlyusica and Wendy both had looked over the figure that seemed to be Lisanna and neither of them could find anything wrong with her. After the pink haired healer had heard about what happened she pulled Makarov to the side and explained that the likely scenario was that the girl had collapsed from the shock of coming to Earthland from Edolas.
"Yes, I thought that might be the case but I wanted to be sure. After all I recall when you came to us from Edolas back when we were young. You had collapsed just like her, but you were also suffering from a fever."
"You're getting old if you are remembering things that way."
Porlyusica told Makarov with a smile. She didn't want to be reminded of the past, yet she really couldn't help but smile as she recalled her time as an active member of Fairy Tail.
"Anyway, I'm leaving. Next time you and your brats need me, don't."
She told him, which was the same thing she always told him. But the short, white haired man knew she would always help them because no matter how aloof she acted the woman still had a soft spot for the guild.
While that talk was going on Erza and Gray were filling Mira and Elfman in on what had happened, and why they were suddenly being called to the infirmary by the master.
"So this girl looks like Lisanna. But didn't you guys say that Mystogan told you we had our own counterparts in this 'Edolas'? So isn't it likely she's the Lisanna from that world and not ours?"
"Yes, but we felt it would be good to warn you just in case. Plus if she's confused about what's going on, having you two around when she wakes up would be a good idea. I mean as her siblings, your presence should be able to calm her down long enough to explain."
Erza replied in a whisper as they opened the door to the infirmary. Wendy had left after she and Porlyusica determined there was nothing wrong with the white haired girl so there was no one in the room but the still unconscious form of Lisanna.
When they saw the girl Mira and Elfman both couldn't help but tear up. It was almost too much for them, given the fact they still weren't completely over her death. They sat there just waiting for Lisanna to wake up. Yet to their surprise the girl woke up with a smile on her face and didn't seem confused at all. But the real shock was the first words out of her mouth.
"I'm home."
S.R: Yes I'm an evil bastard for not giving you a proper meeting between Natsu and Lisanna. But I kinda wanted that to be it own chapter and I figured you guys would prefer it that way so…. Anyway I'll see you guys next time (which is likely going to be tomorrow since I've already started the next chapter).
